Still no word on starting pitchers for either squad.

Here's the official games notes from the UH site...
http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/m-basebl...14aaa.html
The Coogs head into Reckling with confidence following their well-pitched, home series sweep over Nicholls State (3-0, 4-0, 3-2). They're an experienced, largely upperclass-laden squad, with good speed, strong weekend pitching and excellent infield defense.

Here's their stat sheet for their first three games...
http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/m-basebl...mcume.html
They're hitting a solid .305 as a team, with 6 extrabase hits, and averaging 2 stolen bases per game. However, they've struckout 19 times vs. 12 free passes against relatively weak pitching.


Kendall Rogers/Perfect Game project the Coogs to finish 2nd in the AAC, behind Lousville, with 3B Mantemajor, SS Ratcliff and OF Pyeatt all named to their preseason all-conference team...
http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View...ticle=9374

Quote:Houston: Head coach Todd Whitting and his coaching staff have done a terrific job in restoring order at UH, and this team should return to the NCAA postseason. The Cougars have a projectable staff ace in righthander Aaron Garza, who’s expected to have a strong junior campaign. Garza has a loose arm and gained some good weight in the offseason, while he’s followed in the weekend rotation by rising righty Jake Lemoine and talented freshman Andrew Lantrip. Lemoine is consistently 90-93 with his fastball with some good run, while his slider and changeup have become solid pitches, while Lantrip was a highly touted prospect as a high school senior, and sits low-90s with a hard-nosed attitude. Closer Chase Wellbrock is another quality arm to watch. He’s only 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, but loves to attack hitters … Offensively, the Cougars welcome back gritty Frankie Ratcliff, while the return of previously injured Casey Grayson and Jacob Lueneburg is huge. Both had strong falls at the plate. Also keep an eye on Ashford Fulmer, who showed good offensive skills in the fall with good overall power.

Baseball America also projects UH to finish 2nd in the conference, and to advance into the post-season for the first time since the mid-00s...
http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2...eview-aac/

Quote:Houston: The Cougars made real progress in coach Todd Whitting’s third season, cracking the Top 25 midway through the season for the first time since 2006 and flirting with a regional bid despite playing five to seven freshmen most games. Now those players are seasoned sophomores, and three of them are key cogs in the offense: sweet-swinging run producer Justin Montemayor and spark plugs Josh Vidales and Kyle Survance. Getting two physical seniors back from injury (Casey Grayson and Jacob Lueneburg) will provide a big boost, and three more quality seniors (Frankie Ratliff, Caleb Barker and Landon Appling) make this a deep lineup—and the AAC’s best offense. The rotation has a potentially stellar one-two punch in So. RHP Jake Lemoine (who can pitch at 93-94 with a heavy sinker and mixes in a solid slider) and Jr. RHP Aaron Garza (a strike-thrower with an 88-91 fastball and outstanding command).

This should be UH's best team in many years.

Eric Sorenson ranked the Coogs #61 in his preseason Top 302...
http://www.collegebaseballtoday.com/2014...s-of-2014/

Quote:61- HOUSTON (36-22, 13-11 in Conference USA)
2013 ISR: 60
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (15+inns.): 3

How about that Todd Whiting? The youthful head coach got his charges to go from 18 wins in 2012 to 36 wins last season. They should stalk that amount again this year with nearly the entire batting order back, led by Justin Montemayor (.329-3-27) and Frankie Ratcliff (.300, 8triples). Pitching coach Frank Anderson will have his work cut out for him with the large amount of attrition, but RHP Aaron Garza (5-5, 3.88) and saves ace Chase Wellbrook (0-1, 3.40, 11svs) are still around. Also keep an eye on 1B Casey Grayson, who hit. .289 in 2012 and returns after a year off for injury.

Matt Ditman gets the start for the Owls coming off his electifying 4 inning, 2 hit, 10 strikeout performance vs. Stanford last Friday. Lineup the same, save for Warren starting instead of Williamson in CF, and some slight juggling of the order.

No word yet on UH's starting pitcher, but it must be another left-hander since Hunter K. is the starting DH. Let's hope (pray) we stop trying to pull everything, and go the other way against left-handed pitching. If not, we will likely continue to struggle, and opposing teams will continue to send us a steady diet of southpaw pitching. It's due time we learned and made the proper adjustments (as this has been a big problem for at least a couple years now).

(02-19-2014 04:12 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  No word yet on UH's starting pitcher, but it must be another left-hander since Hunter K. is the starting DH

Junior LHP Matt Locus for UH, transfer from San Jac.
http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/m-basebl...78017.html